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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30121791">Guess It Was Meant to Be</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattchalatta/pseuds/mattchalatta'>mattchalatta</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(srsly Hen and Chim can’t deal with it anymore), Attempt at Humor, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, POV Hen &amp; Chimney, Public Display of Affection, Secret Relationship, Unresolved Sexual Tension, the Ana arc didn't happen in this story srry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:54:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,130</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30121791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattchalatta/pseuds/mattchalatta</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Buck and Eddie are super bad at secret dating; Hen and Chim just want them to admit it already because somehow the unresolved sexual tension is even worse when these two idiots pretend they aren't sucking faces in private. That just won't do at all.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan "Buck" Buckley &amp; Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Howie "Chimney" Han &amp; Henrietta "Hen" Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>139</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Something’s up.”</p><p>Chimney looks up from his parenting book. Now that he knows they’re having a baby girl, he’s skipped the circumcision section (he’d no idea why someone thought it must be included in a <em>baby</em> parenting book) and right into the case studies. Frankly, he could use a break from learning all the different ways a baby can barf on you. And this seems like as good a chance as any.</p><p>The medical book Hen’s brought today is long forgotten in her hands. She’s now staring off the other side of the room with the intensity of a hawk. </p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Look over there.” </p><p>At first, Chimney isn’t sure what he’s looking for. Los Angelos seems to be having a “peaceful” (he’s not using the q-word even in his head) night today and most of their night crews had already retired to the bunk room. Right now, Buck and Eddie are the only ones occupying the couch, their bodies pressed close from shoulder to thigh as usual as they both hunch over looking at something on Eddie’s phone, smiling while they talk softly. Chimney assumes they’re flipping through the photos from Christopher’s science fair yesterday because according to Buck, their solar system project was a big hit and he couldn’t stop bragging about it the whole day.</p><p>All in all, nothing seems to be out of place and Chimney is more than confused.</p><p>“I don’t think I see anything weird. Do you?” Chimney pauses for a second, looks around them, hugs his book closer to himself and asks again. “Do you?”</p><p>Hen rolls her eyes at him, exasperated. “It’s not that, dummy. Look closer. At the boys.”</p><p>Although still doubtful, Chimney looks again anyway. He still doesn’t think anything is particularly worth noting - yes, Chim could admit that Buck and Eddie are not so much “sitting together” but more like Buck’s one move away from sitting on Eddie’s lap, but that’s just how these two work. </p><p>At this point, anything short of sucking faces in the public won’t even warrant teasing anymore. One time, he swears he even saw Eddie had his hand on Buck’s thigh while they were having dinner, just laying there all casual and nonchalant, as if it wasn’t something out of the “Couple 101” handbook and definitely out of the bro-zone, and - wait, where’re their hands?</p><p>Squinting harder, Chimney cranes his neck trying to get a better view. His eyes go wide as saucers as soon as he sees what Hen’s definitely referring to.</p><p>“Holy shit,” Chimney gasps, as quiet as he could, “They’re holding hands now.”</p><p>It’s subtle as hell but he can see it now. Eddie’s left hand, the one that’s not scrolling his phone, is tightly intertwined with Buck’s right hand, sneakily hidden and tucked away in the space between their thighs and - there’s just no way, <em> no way </em>they could still think it’s some platonic shit that’s acceptable in the friend zone. Sure, friends can hold hands but they don’t hold hands <em> like that</em>. They don’t have their fingers interlocked, and definitely don’t have them basically tucked under one of their asses. </p><p>“You didn’t see it just now, but Eddie dropped a kiss on Buck’s knuckles after they checked if I was looking.” Hen says, musing for a second, “I think the boys are dating now.”</p><p>And wow. Wow. That’s just. <em> Mind-blowing.</em> Chimney feels like a father who just witnesses his baby walk for the first time. It’s something he knows is bound to happen, but when it actually does?</p><p>
  <em> Wow. </em>
</p><p>“I don’t know what to say,” Chim says, still pretty in shock himself. “How long has this been going on? How did it happen? Why didn’t they tell us? Do we congratulate them? Do we-” When Hen shoots him an unimpressed look, he swallows back the next question and sighs, “I’m sorry, it’s just - we’ve been speculating this for so long and now it actually happened? I’m so happy for them but also have so many questions.”</p><p>“Same here, Chim. But if they’re still in the sneaking around phase, then it must be pretty new and they’re still figuring things out.” </p><p>“Oh my god,” suddenly hit with a realization, Chim shoots a panicked look over to Hen. “Do I tell Maddie about this? This is Buck we’re talking about, and Maddie doesn’t mess around with things Buck-related.”</p><p>“I seriously doubt we should tell anyone about this yet." Hen bites her lips, visibly conflicted. "As much as we tease them about being an old married couple, we’re talking about a new relationship here, when things are still shaky and changeable.” </p><p>A stretch of silence falls upon them after that, neither of them could come up with ideas about what to do with this new information. A few seconds later, a joyous laugh is heard from the couch. Chimney and Hen both turn to look. </p><p>With his arm slung over the shoulder of a laughing Buck, Eddie looks so smitten that even in a distance, they can both see he's gawking at Buck with the dopiest smile on his face and little hearts are practically busting out of his gleaming eyes. He looks at the man in his arm like he’s a second away from getting on his knees and asking Buck for his hand in marriage. </p><p>“Yeah, that looks real shaky and changeable to me all right.” Chimney quips, almost rolls his eyes when he sees Eddie very unsubtly slides his hand down to Buck’s waist. If it wasn't for secret’s sake he definitely would have hauled Buck’s ass into his lap right now. </p><p>Hen shakes her head in amusement. Then, as if a light bulb has gone off in her head, she turns to Chimney looking like she's found the answer to all of their problems.</p><p>“On second thought,” Hen tentatively suggests, “We could encourage the boys to come to us first, right? Whatever it’s been holding them back, if we show them enough support and maybe, clue them in that we already kinda figured it out, it might be what they need to finally make it official. Besides,” </p><p>Hen glances back at the secretive couple. Buck’s drawing slow circles on Eddie’s thigh now, and from the way they’re both biting their lips and intensely staring at each other, she’s surprised no clothes have been torn off yet. “They’re <em>so bad </em>at doing this secret relationship route. I mean seriously, it’s like they aren’t even trying. I don’t think I can handle a second longer not being able to tease them about it. It’s <em> killing </em> me, Chim.”</p><p>“It’s killing me too!” If it wasn’t too obvious, Chim would have thrown his arms up in the air. “So it’s settled. We’ll make them come to us first (<em>“willingly”)</em>, yes, willingly come to us first, and after they make it official I won’t have to feel guilty about hiding this from Maddie and everyone’s happy.”</p><p>“We’ve got this.” Hen agrees with a nod.</p><p>They’ve got this, definitely.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>aka the chapter that Chimney and Hen reach their boiling points and thing's about to get real now.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As it turns out, they have not got this in the bag. Nope, not even close. </p><p>“I don’t get it. I genuinely don’t. Get. It.” Chimney groans, dragging his palms down his face tiredly. </p><p>For the last two weeks, he and Hen had tried a million ways trying to make the boys open up about their badly veiled secret relationship. So far, none of them have worked and it’s driving them crazier by the days with how dense these two idiots are. </p><p>“How is it this hard to crack them open, especially when they’re barely making an effort to keep things on the down low? I mean, look at them!”</p><p>Chimney waves his hand indignantly towards the kitchen, where Buck is standing behind the stove preparing a generous breakfast for the team. And to no one's surprise, Eddie's standing right beside him, hands holding onto the coffee mug Buck’s prepared for him earlier and just staring, <em> God </em> the staring, like he’s busy daydreaming about Buck being in his own kitchen cooking breakfast for him and his kid for the rest of their lives, but also finding the time to leer at his secret boyfriend whenever he flips a pancake and his bicep bulges the tiniest bit. <em> Ugh </em>.</p><p>“Can these two be any more obvious? How are we the only ones seeing this!” </p><p>“The others can’t see it because they think it's just their usual BuckandEddie-ness.”</p><p>Hen rubs at her temples, feeling more exhausted by their idiotic friends than any of her medical exams. “Honestly though? I’m starting to think maybe we should call it off. I mean, obviously they’re very happy with each other, and based on what we’d seen so far, whatever it’s been holding them back from telling us is nothing serious. So maybe, we should take a step back and <em> really </em>let them come to us first?”</p><p>“Um, no?”</p><p>Chimney stares back at Hen like she’s grown a second head and no longer speaking English. “We can’t stop now because if they don’t make it official, I'd still have to hide this from Maddie. And FYI, it’s been driving me <em> nuts</em>. Besides,” He gestures to the kitchen again, very deliberately to make a point. “You seriously telling me that you can hold back from commenting on <em> that </em>to their faces a day longer?”</p><p>Albeit extremely reluctant, Hen looks over to what Chim's pointing at anyway. Apparently, Eddie’s upgraded himself from being a bystander to a taste tester now. He tries to hide it as much as possible, but Hen can see it clear as day the way he’s his finger hooked into Buck’s belt as the blonde carefully feeds him a small piece of bacon. When he bites the meat off the offered fork, his finger tugs ever so slightly to have Buck stumble closer, and Eddie’s eyes are burning with an intensity that’s entirely inappropriate in any workplace possible. </p><p>Hen bites the inside of her cheek, barely holding back from an exasperated groan. She’s seriously considering reporting them to the HR now. Screw friendship when she can trade it for a moment of peace for her eyes.</p><p>When she turns back to Chim, he’s giving her a very pointed look that clearly says ‘You see what I meant now?’ </p><p>A long moment of silence later, with the biggest sigh she’s let out today, Hen yields. “No, I can’t.”</p><p>“Don’t let these two idiots get in your head, Hen. They’re outsmarting us by out-dumbing us, and we’re not gonna fall for that.” Chimney says determinedly. </p><p>“God, I just wish we hadn’t found out about them those two weeks ago. Once we knew it’s like they’re the most obvious idiots in love and they’re <em> everywhere</em>. We can’t even ignore how much they can’t keep their hands off each other.” </p><p>“And let’s not forget you dragged me into this, so you don’t get to quit on me now Wilson.” Chimney stresses, shaking his head while sighing wistfully. “But yeah, I wish we didn’t know too.” </p><p>Not a second later, a cheerful shout from Buck is heard from the dining table.</p><p>“Guys, breakfast’s ready!” </p><p>Chimney and Hen share one final look that promises they’d talk later, get up from their seats, and start moving to the table.</p><p>As defeated as Chimney feels, some good breakfast food is always a comforting start for a foreseeable hectic 24-hour shift. It’s the full moon again so there’s no doubt about it. Besides, his empty stomach could really use some nice fluffy pancakes and greasy bacon right now. And did he smell eggs and waffles too? And-</p><p>
  <em> What the fuck? </em>
</p><p>“Buck,” Chim slowly lifts his finger, completely dumbfounded after what he just saw. “Did you just pat Eddie’s ass, right in front of my pancakes?”</p><p>“Did I?” Buck asks while taking a seat beside Eddie. He turns to Eddie, who nods in confirmation, and shrugs with the easiest little smile on his face. “Oops, was aiming for his back, guess I missed.” And he processes to scarf down his plate of the pancakes like it’s not a big fucking deal.</p><p>The <em> audacity </em>.</p><p>Chimney knows he must look ridiculous now with how far his jaw has dropped. He turns to Hen, who’s sporting a similar expression of what Chim likes to call “righteous indignation”.</p><p>
  <em> Oh hell no. </em>
</p><p>“It’s personal now, Hen.” Chimney whispers to Hen while taking his seat, visibly fuming as he bites down his pancakes. God, he even hates how good they taste right now. “We’re gonna crack these idiots like walnuts until every single one of their secrets is spilled. And then, I’m gonna rant to Maddie about how big of a moron her baby brother is.” Chimney pauses, then adds, “In a loving and respectful way, but still. I’m gonna rant <em> goddamnit</em>.”</p><p>Hen nods, filled with determination.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>At first, I was going to finish this story in two chapters but I'm having so much fun writing about it I can't stop. Hopefully I can wrap this up in the next chapter and stop myself from getting carried away again. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ<br/>Thank you guys for reading and as usual comments and kudos are always big support! Love y'all.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Since my ABO Buddie fic still has a long road down the angsty land, I was really craving to write something just plain silly and funny and this happened ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ I know secret relationship is quite the popular trope but I LOVE it. Thank you guys for reading and as usual, any comments are more than appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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